1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to the field of water displays.
2. Prior Art.
Water displays ranging from simple fountains to complex time varying and lighted water displays are known in the prior art. Most water displays operate in conjunction with a fountain pool of some form to which the water in the displays returns for recirculation in the display. Also, while a non-varying display can be both very pleasing in appearance and soothing in sound, time varying displays have gained increasing popularity, probably because of the observer attention required, and almost demanded by the display, for the observer to experience and appreciate all the variations of the display. In conventional, relatively small displays, the problem of creating a dynamic or time varying display tends to center around one's ability to control the variations desired, wherein in large displays, the technical problems include not only control, but also absolute power requirement and the ability to vary such high power levels. By way of example, a water display to be created anywhere but at the very edge of a large pond or small lake will require very high instantaneous power levels if the water display is not to be dwarfed by the sheer size of the body of water. Accordingly, the simple and efficient creation of water displays for such applications is one of the objectives of the present invention.
With respect to the known prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 914,419 discloses a small automatic fountain which comprises a reservoir containing the fountain liquid and air under pressure, the air causing ejection of the liquid through a nozzle at the top of the fountain. To facilitate the varying pressure of the air as it expands during ejection of the water, an automatic valve arrangement is provided so that a substantially constant pressure is provided to the fountain nozzle. The fountain is intended to operate on a substantially continuous basis, requiring venting of the pressure chamber before more water can be added. Although such fountains should operate as intended, they are not suitable for use as a high energy transient display, as turning the display on and off would require on/off valving of the water flow in the presence of a high pressure, and of course would require periodic venting and refilling of the reservoir with water. Also, because of the size of the reservoir in comparison to the size of the cylindrical chamber through which the water is ejected, a particularly large control reservoir would be required where high energy, high water flow rate displays are desired.
Other displays are known which are steam powered, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,066,565 and 3,484,045. Such displays are transient displays which operate in a regular pattern and are not controllable in the height of the display or period between operation thereof.